Month: September 2015

For our group presentation we decided to use the website prezi, in order to make our presentation. We felt that it might give it a more protectional appearance than we would of been able to achieve by simply using powerpoint presentation. I felt that it appeared to flow well due to the graphics that we chose.

We received a mixture of different feed back about our presentation, from a positive comment upon the accent of one of the members of our group, to the observation that the use of mobile phones in order to read a script looked unprofessional.

My part of the presentation, on how to be successful at the course, was taken by some of the audience to be too aggressive especially my “you are not a child” point. I might be able to take this on board for my next presentation, by using less forceful direct language and a more calm tone when speaking.

However that being said the feed back we gain from the lecturer, was positive in regards to this statement, which goes to show that not everyone has the same opinion about the presentation. The comments we gained from the lecturers were more about the use of graphics, and their concern that our choice in graphic style might subtract from the presentation, making hard for the audience to follow the presented argument.

I enjoyed putting this presentation together mainly because it gave me a chance to work with people that I hadn’t meet before. I found it was a fun ice breaker to the course in getting use to know one another. But that being said I felt that I need to be more organised when I do another presentation. While we did complete the presentation on time we had trouble printing off the script which is why we resorted to using our phones in order to read the script. However had I practised my part more prior to presenting, it might of flowed better and I would of been less nerves.

Like this:

The Add Vantage module I have chosen to take this year is Photography as a professional tool. There are a few reasons why I have chosen to do this course, the main one being that I enjoy photography already and it is part of my belief that in order to gain the best results from my academic experience is to enjoy what I am learning. That being said this course will add to my media course as it will allow me to gain the technical skills needed when using camera equipment. While understandably the first year of my course is predominately theoretical, it will give me an advantage later on in the course. At the end of the photography course the grade is judged predominantly upon coursework, which I would presume would result in me acquiring a portfolio which I could add to my personal professional development blog. This would be a great course for me to showcase my work. I have a little experience already in using DSLR cameras and have been able to create some amateur photographs. But hopefully this course will allow me to learn how to use my photography in a more professional capacity, for example instead of personal family moments it could be used to create unique images for advertising purposes or indeed in a journalistic capacity if I were to document social events through my photography. It is true I could of picked a course that might of been more skill based such as academic writing, and this would of given me useful skills that I need in order to make a coherent structured argument within my assignments. However the course I have chosen I feel meets my needs for a creative outlet, which in the first year of my main course I will need as it is mainly theoretical.

Like this:

Well this is a little strange, having to writ to yourself about things you want to do and get from a course that barely feels like its started yet, and commenting on things I’ve done in the past in regards to media and my academic career so far. Well firstly I did not always want to do media at university, much like all small children I had other ideas to start with, like archaeology, but I think that was mostly to satisfy my ability to get messy and digging in the dirty around the back of my first primary school. My first experience of anything to do with media was during my a-levels at collage and in fact it was the creative outlet along with the analytical nature of the course that made me fall head over heals in love with it. I hope to be able to still say that music is still a big influence on my work in media, with both my AS and A2 course works being situated within a cultural mostly associated with the rock genre. The way the mood of a film or a video can be effected by the music it is accompanied with, can have an impact upon its success. For example a lot of horror films use dramatic music to build tension towards a dramatic moment, however the use of silences within these films if used effectively can have just as great of an effect. But that being said there are many different genres of media that I enjoy, and then there are plenty of films and music which would be associated with these genres which I don’t enjoy. This would probably be due to a mixture of reasons, but I find that the more predictable a program or a film is the less I enjoy it.

While it is true that I do like to analyse media products there is also apart of me which is quite excited by the prospect of being able to produce some of my own peaces wether its creating videos or editing image. In away being able to critically analyse not only other people media but also my own will help me to develop in both my analytical capabilities and my practical skills when it come to the development of certain media products.

The main way in which I have interacted within the media is through photography and video production. There are main of my own edited videos on youtube, I made these in order to gain some small grasp and understanding of video editing which I might be able to further expand upon in my media course. I lot of the photography that I have done in the past could be considered amateurish, hopefully I will be able to expand my technical abilities in order to produces something which I will be truly proud of. This might be a little difficult as I can be extremely critical of my own productions, the website I designed and created within my A2 year even now I still pick up on issues and ideas that I could of used in the production.

I guess the main point of this would have to be that I want to be able to say that I have done something that I haven’t done before, that I have learned about something that I didn’t know existed before and that I have developed my skills with different media formats to such an extent that I am able to be successful in my pursuit for a career in media. Even if at this every moment in time I cant quite decide on what it is I want to do after university.